marina, darling, you're my best friend
by acidhu3s
Summary: Pearl told herself she wouldn't let herself fall for a straight girl again, but here she is. And it sucks because she can't even avoid her. Because it's her best friend. Pearl currently has the biggest crush on her straight best friend Marina Ida. (human high school au. background agent 24. sorry if the spanish is a bit weird, it's not my native tongue.)


Pearl told herself she wouldn't let herself fall for a straight girl again, but here she is. And it _sucks _because she can't even avoid her.

Because it's her best friend.

Pearl currently has the biggest crush on her straight best friend Marina Ida.

Wow. That was a sentence that was hard to admit! If she said that exact same sentence to herself when she was thirteen, she probably would have lost it.

But… Yeah, this isn't too fun. During the day, she has a few classes both with and without Marina, and the ones that are with her are spent in a state of gayngsty panic. The ones that aren't are spent daydreaming about her. Not that Pearl doesn't do that in the classes she has with her, but…

It's not Pearl's fault she's so gay for Marina specifically! Because she's… Great. She's funny and nice and her smile could replace the sun and really caring and she's an _awesome _musician too. And that's not even looking at the physical side of things, because _wow _she's pretty. Then there are all the little small details, like how she tends to tap the desk when she's deep in thought or how she says her '-o's funny or how she really hates crowds so sometimes when they're in public doing normal straight girl activities like walking and taking bad pictures of pigeons she holds Pearl's hand and now that Pearl thinks about it Marina does it in non-crowded places too-

"Yoohoo!" Pearl is interrupted from her panic by a hand waving in front of her face. "Earth to Pearl?"

"Huh?" Damn, she zoned the _fuck _out. "Yeah, I'm, uh, there. Hi."

Marie, the hand-waver, laughs a little. "We were talking about the Spanish test. You took it already, right?"

"Oh, yeah." She relaxes a bit in her seat. Marina had helped her study in return for some help on her English paper, since Spanish is her native tongue. And… That's really nice of her, too, considering she didn't need any help on her paper in the first place. Pearl's pretty sure that Marina's the class valedictorian. "It was pretty easy. Just covering preterites."

"Really?" Callie, sitting at the desk beside Marie's and in front of Pearl, smiles. "You should be fine, then!"

"Ugh, I should really look them over, though…" Marie mumbles, flipping through her notebook. "Not everyone has someone to help you learn an entire language."

"Sorry I met nice people while in Chile, _Marie._" Callie sticks her tongue out. "Plus you got a date out of it, so…"

"Keep that in your mouth." Marie's words do not work, because Callie just sticks her tongue out again. "And… I mean, _yeah,_ but so did you. Oh, actually, Pearl."

Ah, jeez.

"Yeah?" She shifts a bit in her chair, opting to move her right leg onto it with her. Pearl was told she looks "really gay when she sits like that," almost like that was the point.

"Have you asked her out yet?" WHAT. MARIE. "Like, I know you haven't _told _us that you even like Marina, but… It's so obvious."

"I- Um." Fuck. "... No. She's straight."

Callie cackles a Callie cackle while Marie sighs a Three-ish sigh.

"Come _on, _Pearl, she isn't." Marie, how can you-?!

Callie, the mind-reader that she is, answers for her.

"She listens to Tegan and Sara."

"That's a _stereotype, _first of all, and straight girls can listen to whatever they wa-"

"Do you know how many flannels she owns? You can't even use the country girl excuse because we live in the middle of New York." Callie gives her a look like she's won.

"Flannels- Flannels aren't an exclusive gay thing. They're _comfy, _too." Despite that, Pearl is currently wearing a flannel, sitting in a chair incorrectly, and the song _BWU _was running through her head this morning. "Plus, she's from California. Straight people probably wear flannel there. Either way, you're relying on stereotypes to prove your point."

"Pearl," Marie says in That tone. "Have… Have you seen yourself?"

"I- _Look,_" she says as if she's going to start but she doesn't have much to say, actually. "I'm just saying I think she's straight. The only way I'll accept it is if I walk in on her making out with a chick, okay?"

"You can't walk in on yourself," the elder Cuttlefish cousin jokes.

Pearl slams her face into the desk.

* * *

**Marina, 2:16 PM: **Pearlie! Do you want to go out later?

Pearl's heart starts racing as soon as she gets the message.

**You, 2:16 PM: **Yeah, sure! Where do you want to go?

**Marina, 2:16 PM: **Haha you always reply so fast!

**Marina, 2:16 PM: **Hmm idk! There's that Italian bakery we always go to, but I think we should go somewhere specialer

**You, 2:17 PM: **Its bc your my bff, dork! :p wdym by specialer?

**Marina, 2:17 PM: **Just somewhere cooler, you know? It's like a platonic date~!

Pearl face heats up at that. Considering it a _date _would… She buries the impulse to hide her face in her hands and _scream._

"The hell's wrong with you?" Three mumbles, but Pearl doesn't respond.

**Pearl, 2:17 PM: **Sure, sure but why?

Marina doesn't reply for eleven minutes.

**Marina, 2:28 PM:** Weeeeeell Ik we're both the only single people in our friend group… So we can pretend to cash in on the post Valentine's rush!

**Pearl, 2:28 PM: **We're not the only singles though? There's 3?

**Marina, 2:29 PM: **Come ON Pearlie… 3 has a poorly hidden hickey on her neck, haven't you noticed?

**Pearl, 2:29 PM: **Wait she does?

Pearl takes a good long squint at the girl's neck, and… Oh my god.

"Three," she says, barely above a whisper, completely failing to hide her snickering, "You have a _hickey?_"

She whirls around quickly, blushing a bit as her hand claps over the mark.

"No," Three says, overly defensive, "It's an inconveniently placed bug bite."

"Bug bites don't turn purple, dude."

"Oh, fuck you," she mumbles, turning back around and adjusting her jacket.

**Pearl, 2:30 PM: **Oh my GOD…

**Marina, 2:31 PM: **Right?

**Marina, 2:31 PM: **So, anyways. Do you know where we should go?

**Pearl, 2:31 PM: **How bout I get back to you on that, okay?

**Pearl, 2:31 PM: **You know how Mr Takowara gets :/

**Marina, 2:31 PM: **Okay~

**Marina, 2:31 PM: **I'll talk to you in 7th! Bye

Pearl turns her phone off and groans as she grabs her hair, burying her face in her elbows.

She can't believe she was outdone by _Three._ Pearl watched Three dump ketchup and relish on her nachos and then _eat _them.

_Pearl was outdone by a relish-nacho eater._

"What the fuck was that about?" Three asks once Pearl stopped internally screaming. She subconsciously adjusts her shirt. "You look like you're gonna have a goddamn aneurysm."

"It's stupid," she mumbles, completely failing to hide her blush. "Anyways… You have a girlfriend?"

"...Yeah." Three avoids eye contact. "Didn't think I had to tell you, though."

"When'd that happen?" Pearl's, like, almost certain it's Eight. Despite being the cheer captain and therefore Popular and Cool, Pearl noticed how she'd always work with Three on projects when they could choose, or how she'd walk up to Three towards the end of class, cheeks tinged red, stuttering slightly as she seemed to struggle to find reasons to talk to her. Honestly, Eight kind of… Reminds her of Marina.

Huh. That's weird, isn't it..?

"Uh, we've sorta been dating for a month. Just, she… Wants to keep it on the down-low, so, if ya could…"

She nods. "Yeah, sure. I will. Anyways! I'm happy for you."

"Ah, thanks…" Pearl thinks she sees Three smile a little, and if you told that to her ten minutes ago she'd die laughing. "Are you ever gonna ask out Ida?"

Why does it always come back to this?

"Why do you care?" Pearl says, narrowing her eyes. "Last I checked, you weren't into romance."

"Change of heart?" she offers. "But, uh, Callie and Marie told me to bother you about it. Dunno why, really. It's your business."

"Yeah. It is, isn't it?" She sighs. "But… Ugh, I just… What if she hates me? She's just a really cool person and I don't… Want to ruin that."

Three nods. "I get that. But, I mean, there's only one way to find out, right? You gotta try, at least. I did, and just look at the babe I got."

"You're the only person I know who'd use 'babe' to refer to their partner while trying to inspire someone." Pearl glances over at Eight, who briefly meets her gaze. Ah, that's kinda awkward. "But… Haaaah…" She sighs again. It's a sigh-y kind of day. "I don't fuckin' know, dude! I'll… Think about it."

"Don't stress over it too much."

"Kinda late for that one," Pearl mumbles after Three turns back around.

**Pearl, 2:43 PM: **Wanna go to the Wharf and get some ice cream later? Figured you'd want some.

**Marina, 2:46 PM: **That sounds great! :D

**Marina, 2:46 PM: **Thanks, Pearlie!

* * *

Pearl doesn't think she should be nervous for her (PLATONIC!) _date_ with Marina, but she is. Which is, heh, kinda weird, given that spending time with Marina is usually fun and nice, even if she is blushy and stupid for most of it. That's just the life, though! Pearl doesn't mine burying her affections for the rest of her life and dying at the tender age of twenty. Her autopsy will reveal the cause of her death - an overabundance of gay in the bloodstream that led to cardiac arrest. "Our daughter was _gay!_" her parents will shriek, even though Pearl came out to them four years ago.

Okay, maybe she's panicking a little. But it's cool! It's all cool. Just as cool as the ice cream they're going to eat, even if Pearl isn't the biggest fan of ice cream and it's February and cold but it's FINE.

It's fine.

"Heeeey, Pearlie? You there?" AH! That's Marina, all right! Yeahahahaha thaaaaat's her friend! The one Pearl doesn't have a crush on! The one that Pearl _doesn't_ think about almost constantly and the one that she hasn't lost a considerable amount of sleep over because bwahaha that's stupid and _dumb _why would Pearl _feel _emotions like love? On that train of thought, is love an emotion? What classifies an emotion as an emotion? Shut up, she's not changing the subject.

"Haha, yep! I'm, uh, existing. What's up?" Pearl grins in a normal fashion and she doesn't blush at all. The blood actually rushes away from her face so now she looks and is even whiter than before. Take that, world!

"You've been kinda spacey recently," Marina says with a slight frown as they approach the entrance to the Wharf. "Is something wrong?"

Oh jeez oh shit oh man, Marina has brain cells that work. That's awkward!

"Nah." Pearl makes a stupid and gestures carelessly, attempting to hide the fact that she cares deeply. "I'm all cool! You know me, heh…" Pearl follows up her first careless gesture with another careless gesture. Some peace signs. Or the equivalent to the bird, if you live in the UK. (At least, she's pretty sure that's what it is?) "Aaaaanyways, how was your day?"

Marina furrows her brow a bit, but doesn't press the subject.

"It was okay, I guess?" she replies, holding the door open for Pearl. "I don't know. It was pretty normal."

"Thanks," Pearl mumbles as she enters. A small bell rings, alerting the staff there that there were some customers. "I mean, a normal day's better than a shitty one, right?"

"Oh, that's true." She walks a bit faster to be beside Pearl. "How was yours?"

"Eh. Same-old, same-old." Pearl brushes her bangs out of her face. "Still think it's weird that Three got a date before either of us did, though."

"Hm… Yeah, I guess so. But, they seem to like each other, right?" Marina fishes her wallet from her bag. "Um, anyways… What kind of ice cream do you want? I can go order for us."

"Huh? It's fine, you don't have to." Pearl doesn't want to feel like she's _imposing _or anything! Because, hah, that'd be _stupid. _

"Riiight, but you seem kinda bothered?" Oh, does she? That's less than ideal. "Plus, you could save us a seat, so…" Well. That kind of makes sense. Sort of. The Wharf isn't all that busy in the middle of February, but there are some people there…

"Oh, uh, sure? Get me a small strawberry in a cup, then." Reaching into her pocket to get her wallet, she continues, "Here, I'll give you the money-"

"Pearlie, it's _fine,_" Marina insists. "You don't need to pay me back. I just want to see you happy."

Haha. That's… That's a nice gesture. It's a gesture that's so nice all of Pearl's blood drains away from her face and she remains very pale and un-blushing, shut the fuck up.

"I, um. Yeah! Yeah, uh. Sure. Th-thanks." Fuck, Pearl's starting to sound like Eight.

Pearl thinks she catches Marina frown a bit, but she's walking to the counter before Pearl can ask why.

The two sat in the Wharf for a bit, because it wasn't fucking frigid in the Wharf while it was outside. They ate their ice cream and talked, with no real awkward lulls like there normally would be if Pearl was talking to another person for twenty minutes.

"You know, I heard that there's gonna be a Diss Pair concert in Madison Square next month. Maybe we could g-" Before Marina could finish her sentence, her phone starts ringing. With a quiet groan and an eyeroll, she checks it. "Sorry, it's my mom. _Hola, ¿qué pasó? ... Sí, sí, estoy en el Wharf. Sí, con Pearl… Volveré pronto. ... Sí, yo prometo._" Marina stands up and walks outside to talk.

...Well! That leaves Pearl pretty alone. Might as well… Do something.

She checks her phone - 47%, 5:34 PM, four new messages…

**Three, 5:11 PM: **Ask her out, pussy.

And, well, now that Marina's not around, Pearl's free to slam her face into the table.

**THUNK.**

She thinks she hears an employee at the counter ask if she's okay, and she doesn't respond, but no, she isn't!

Pearl doesn't lift her head up for a minute or two. She's too busy screeching internally. Since emotions? _Stupid. _Pearl thinks they're hella dumb. And Marina's totally straight, even if she wears beanies and flannel and listens to a lot of Tegan and Sara and occasionally talks about her ex of unspecified gender.

"Hi, Pe- What the hell are you doing?" Oh no. She's been caught.

Pearl whips her head up a little too fast because she proceeds to get very dizzy and that's not very fun. She's pretty sure there's a red mark on her forehead because she smashed her head into the table.

"I, uh. Yes. Thinking." Marina raises an eyebrow.

"Does thinking usually involve launching your face into a table?" She laughs a little. Pearl laughs too, but not because she thinks anything's funny. "Um… My mom called. She wants me home soon since family's coming over tomorrow." Marina rolls her eyes again. "I don't know why she wants the house to be _spotless, _but I can't really argue…"

Pearl stands up to throw their cups out. "Oh, yeah, my parents get like that too. It's dumb, right?"

"WE CAN'T LET THEM KNOW WE SIT!" Pearl doesn't remember what Marina referenced, but she still thinks it's fucking hilarious.

She hands Marina her bag, who thanks her.

"I had fun, though," Marina says as they leave the Wharf. Blegh. It's _cold _out, even if it's not snowing. Pearl thinks February should be illegal. "So, thank you."

"Oh, um, yeah. I did too." She shoves her hands into her pockets. "I like hangin' out with you. I mean, you're my best friend, so it's kind of a given…"

"Yeah." Marina's voice is quiet, like Pearl isn't supposed to hear. "Your best friend."

She unlocks her car and Pearl sits in the passenger's seat. Marina slips the keys into the ignition and it turns on.

Fuck yeah. Heating.

They drive in almost silence for a bit, the radio playing the same five pop songs over and over again, but each one blends into the background. Silence between the two of them is comforting, usually, but it's a bit awkwarder now. Marina looks like she has something on her mind, but Pearl doesn't say anything.

"Hey, um, Pearl?" They're first words said in ten minutes.

"Yeah?" Pearl stops gazing out the window to look over at her. "What's up?"

"I…" She breathes in. Breathes out. "I like you."

"Oh." Okay? "Thanks?" Pearl doesn't quite… Get it.

"Like, um… You know." Like a friend? Marina's told her this before, but… Around this point, she'd always settle on a "Ah, never mind," and they'd continue with whatever they were doing before. "Like… Romantically, kind of like."

Pearl won't lie this time. She's blushing. A lot.

"What?" She searches Marina's face, fully expecting her to tell Pearl she was just joking. Marina doesn't, though. Her face is red, too, and Pearl knows Marina doesn't blush much… If at all.

"Yeah, I…" Marina sighs. "Sorry. I just… God. You probably fucking hate me, don't you?"

"I- Reena, you know I'd never hate you. You're… You're my best friend, you know this." The next words are hard for her to say. "I… I like you too. If it counts. I just… Never, uh, said anything. 'Cause I thought you were straight." Man, Pearl probably sounds like a fucking idiot.

"You… You do?" Marina looks away from the road for a second to look at Pearl, then laughs. It's a mix of relief and nervousness. "Oh, thank God. I thought… I thought you liked Three."

"...What?" Of all people, she wouldn't… She wouldn't pick Three. "She puts relish on her nachos. I can't love a person who puts relish on their nachos."

Marina laughs again. "Aw, you can't? And here I am, thinking I'd have a chance…"

"Well, there're always exceptions…" Ah, shit, Pearl had never… Never expected this conversation to happen. And, well, if it _did,_ she never would have pictured it going like _this._ "But, uh. Does this… Make us anything?"

Marina pauses. "I think it makes us gay," she starts, "But other than that, I… I don't know. We, um, could be?"

"Uh, well… Do you… Do you want to be something?" Pearl's so fucking smooth. Sharks have nothing on her.

"Y-yeah," Marina mumbles. "I… That'd be nice."

"So. Um… Would it be, uh, _wrong _for me to call you my… My girlfriend?" The word sounds so _foreign _on Pearl's lips.

"Um… N-No? I… At least, I don't… I don't think so?"

"Then… It wouldn't be weird for me to kiss you, right? 'Cause I'd, uh, like that."

"Wait until I stop driving, okay?" Quietly, Marina laughs. "I still… Can't believe it."

"Yeah," Pearl agrees, grinning like some kind of fucking moron. She's still not entirely sure she's not dreaming.

As Marina pulls into Pearl's driveway, Pearl unbuckles her seatbelt. Marina parks it, silently staring at Pearl.

"I, um, can I..?" She rubs her arm a bit, still too nervous to really say it.

"Yeah," Pearl says, just as awkward. "Go for it."

Marina holds Pearl's chin with a shaky hand and hesitates for a moment.

"Oh, fuck it," Pearl mumbles, grabbing a fistful of Marina's hair and pulling her towards her in a kiss.

Marina squeaks a little, but relaxes after a moment or two, kissing Pearl back. And, _fuck, _Pearl could get used to this.

Unfortunately, Marina's phone starts to ring again. She glances at it, sees the contact, breaks the kiss, and groans in exasperation.

"_Sí, Mama, yo sé, yo sé. … Sí, estoy en camino. Te vere pronto. Adiós._" Marina hangs up and sighs. "Sorry. You know parents…"

Pearl, who is, admittedly, a little dazed, nods. "Yeah, I, um… I understand." She opens the car door. "But, um. It was nice. Like, our, uh, platonic date."

"Yeah, it… It was, wasn't it? Sorry I had to… Cut it short." Pearl climbs out, closing the door and opening one of the doors to the backseat to get her backpack.

"Hey, you can't control life, right?" Slinging it over her shoulder, she smiles at a still-blushing Marina. "Can we, like… Do that again? Except, you know. A _real _date."

"Oh, um… Sure! I'll, um, text you about it later?" Pearl nods. "Thanks."

"Hey, it's no big deal. I'll, um… See you. I don't wanna hold you any longer."

"Y-yeah, uh… See you around. Thanks for everything."

Pearl stands there for a second or two, like she has something to say… Even though she really doesn't.

"Right. Um, bye, I guess?" She closes the door. As she walks towards the front door, she looks over her shoulder at Marina's car, slowly pulling out.

**Pearl, 6:01 PM: **I DID IT!

**Three, 6:02 PM: **Fucking finally.

**Callie, 6:03 PM: **Congrats!

**Three, 6:03 PM: **Why is there confetti?

**Callie, 6:03 PM: **Try it!

**Three, 6:03 PM: **Congrats

**Three, 6:03 PM: **Oh I don't like that

Pearl shuts her phone off and proceeds to launch her entire body onto her bed. This time, her scream is audible.

_She's dating her gay/bi (?) best friend._

_**What the fuck.**_

Her phone buzzes again.

**Marina, 6:13 PM: **Hey, Pearlie?

**Marina, 6:13 PM: **I'm free Saturday afternoon, if you want to do something.

**Pearl, 6:13 PM: **That'd be great! Where do you want to go?

**Marina, 6:13 PM: **Oh… Idk. Thought you'd have something in mind

Yeah… Pearl would figure something out.


End file.
